


Life On The Desert Scene

by SemiShit



Category: Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys (Album)
Genre: Agender Character, Idk everyone's really tense but it works out because they're cool, It's pretty much just domestic stories and shit, Mental Health Issues, yeah definitely mild Fun/Party themes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-23
Updated: 2015-04-20
Packaged: 2018-03-08 19:15:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 12,226
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3220328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SemiShit/pseuds/SemiShit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Killjoys are running out of cash and everyone needs an emotional outlet that they can't quite find.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Intro

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is Party Poison's view on the four, and a prompt.

 

Ghoul's been okay lately. He hasn't fucked up with drugs yet for all I know. Pretty much all I know is that I admire him and he was depressed until the Helium Wars. Family fucked his life up for him, and once his family was gone, he became free, I guess. 

Jet liked everything about music, I mean we all do, but Jet can spend a whole weekend in the living room with his amp and guitar by himself. Ghoul, KK, and I always need to talk to each other when we make things, but Jet can get working and finish and be proud. He's not shy but he likes his own company. Jet's not the best on supply runs.

I've been okay since I stopped drinking. Battery City drugs don't really tempt me more than they piss me off. I can think of lots of times where I didn't want to feel anything, but usually I'll do something to put some emotion back into my head. The thought of eliminating emotion makes me livid, but that might just be because of KK's situation.

Kobra Kid needs some help. I should say needed. They were on Company drugs until Ghoul found out, which was probably close to a year since they started. I took their silence as being shell shocked, because after losing everything, we were all distant. KK has had identity issues since I could remember, they experimented with hair and style, just as everyone else, but they were never satisfied. I think that they're moderatly comfortable now, but that's not my place to decide.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so this fic is going to be all over. It's pretty much a lot of plot that I think would happen post-Helium Wars. It's going to cover issues with each member and probably a bunch of conflict. The Girl isn't mentioned just because I feel like it doesn't fit as well (that's more of a Fabulous Lives comic thing I think). This is my first Danger Days fic so join in for the ride.


	2. The First Night Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Party's really anxious and Jet and Fun seems to notice

I was really annoyed tonight, like most nights to be honest, but tonight I really needed a drink and a line. I had neither of these two things since the boys and KK were trying to keep me sober as long as possible. I loved them for it because nights like these when I was a panic attack away from giving a blowjob for drugs, Jet Star came out and gave me a concerned look.

"You okay? You're staring off." The frizzy-haired man paused. "You need to walk around outside but I don't want you going off to Dr. D's or anything, come here" I shifted out of my chair and stood in front of Jet. I was very confused.

Kobra's medication wasn't on the shelf as usual and they were gone. They usually went to concerts if Mad Gear and Pony were going to be there, but they came back or called to tell us that they were going to Dr. D's at 12. The time was the least of my concern, I wanted to know why KK's pills were gone.  

"Jet, KK's still not back and it's 3:30 and I don't think I can go get them myself." I slouched a bit. Jet looked blank, like he was still figuring out what emotion to feel. 

"Poison, you know Pony will bring them back. They're just having a good time. I'm glad you're figuring out your boundaries, or whatever, but you know Pony wouldn't let them hurt themself." He sighed and glanced down. "If you want to go wander around, I won't stop you, but keep a phone on you because I want to know where you are. Fun won't admit it but he's really worried about you and he thinks he should go with you, even if you don't talk or anything."

"I, uh. Thanks. I know I'm a lot less ballsier than I was a couple months ago and it's probably concerning.' There was too much silence engulfing the room after each half whispered sentence. "I'll talk to Ghoul." I walked over to his room and tapped on the door, which was cracked open. I peered in. Fun was listening to something through headphones and I could hear it. He had his eyes closed and was subtly playing the song on his air guitar. I walked in slowly and tapped on his shoulder, so I wouldn't piss him off. "Hi." I smiled. He took his headphones out.

"Jet told you didn't he? I told him to tell you if you were getting weird and distant." I laughed through a breath and Ghoul just kind of looked down.

"It's too fucking tense in here, and I'm the cause so let's talk about something fun." We both laughed. "Yeah, I know I'm weird and distant but I love ya for helping an asshole out."

"You still wanna go out? I haven't really gotten a chance to catch up with you today." Ghoul was smiling now, smiling suited him for how much he didn't do it.

"Yeah let's go." I signaled with my hand towards the door. "Should I grab a phone or-"

"Nah" he cut me off. "Come on asshole" We both giggled like children. Jet smiled and gave his wave, which was like a half-assed solute with his index and middle finger.

* * *

 

We had gone about a mile or two out when saw the lights from Dr. D's.

"Wanna turn around?" Fun asked. "I mean I'm having a great time but it's probably not the best place to be right now." 

"Nah I think I'll be good tonight, I wanted to say hey to Dr. anyway. It's been a couple days." I looked down at my shorter acquaintance. "Should I call to see if KK made it home?" 

"No, Jet would tell us if something was off. Jet said he didn't want you going to D's."

"It"ll be cool, I'll just drop in to day hi, I know he's awake" I took in the cool summer night, It was as close I could get to euphoria right now. I was happy with a friend beside me and he could tell. I was still worried about KK but it was a muddled with the cool sand at this point.

"So should we go on a supply run tomorrow or the day after?" Ghoul pondered out loud.

"Yeah, I think we need too. We have enough water for, like, a week but we're running low on tuna and canned shit, I mean you probably already know, but I don't want to have to eat fucking PowerPup" I really don't want to go but I need to kill something and food is a bit more important than my laziness. "I want to go with Jet, we do well on runs. Almost as good as you and KK, but you guys need to take a break. My aim is getting sloppy and god forbid I actually have to shoot something in the comfort of the nest" 

"Yeah, I mean I'm not the best shooter, that's definitely Jet" I laughed and he giggled like a three year old. "but yeah. Hey do you need more dye? You're roots are jacked up". There was more laughter in the past hour than their had been in the past week from the two of us.

"Nah, jacked up roots make me look punk" I was only half joking. I couldn't care enough to make me hair even. I liked it how it was now and I would keep it. 

"Yup, Party Poison, the epitome of punk with his fire engine hair that always looked like he just got fucked" By this point, I was laughing so hard that I had stopped make audible laughs and I was just gasping with a stupid grin on my face. Fun looked pleased with himself.

"Well, you never know" I bit my lip jokingly and choked out another laugh. We had reached Dr. D's and I stopped. KK's motercycle was there. I was almost livid. "holy. fucking. shit. KK better  ** _fucking be in there or I am going to choke Pony until he can no longe_ _r_ _breathe"_**  I wasn't yelling yet butI must've been shaking because Fun grabbed my arm.

"Party, Party, wait. Before you go in there and fuck something up. Take a breath. Maybe Pony didn't want them driving themselves home." Fun looked just as worried as I was mad.

"Someone could've fucking called me earlier!" I forgot that I didn't have a phone, but Fun did. "Someone could've called you or Jet!" By now I was yelling. I bent down and put my hands on my forehead. "Okay, shit, I'll calm down. Give me a sec" I stood up and walked up to the door and tapped on it with my knuckles. KK answer and the color immediately drained from his face.

"I, I was, shit Poison I'm sorry we were just, I'm sorry I didn't call," They were rambling. KK wasn't drunk, they would've been yelling if they were drunk. I wasn't as pissed as before, but I was still pretty fucking upset.

"KK, it's fine, but what were you doing?" The sky was starting to lighten. Ghoul was awkwardly side shifting, actually, we all were.

"Uh. Pony and I uh, were, um-"

"Were you fucking?" Ghoul choked a bit. He didn't looked freshly fucked. I also laughed.

"No. We were actually talking about it though" He had a smirk, they were making out. I was very suprized that I found myself a bit relieved. KK needed some love, and not brotherly love from me. They needed some physical love, and even if it was from Pony, it was something. We all needed some love to be honest. I hadn't had a partner in a couple years, and none of us had girl or boyfriends since the wars.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know how I feel about this fic, but I think I like it.


	3. Don't Fuck Up

"Poison I'm really sorry please don't kick me out, I'll wash our clothes or go on runs from now on, I should've called or something" They were rubbing their face and I could see raw regret.

"Kobra, really it's fine. I'm not even that pissed anymore I was just upset you didn't tell me when you would be home." I looked up so I could look them in the eye. "Where's your medication?" They looked panicked.

"Oh shit it's in my bag, I'll actually grab it right now." They walked off into a room I could barely see from the door. I could see Dr. D in the corner at his desk reading.

"Feel free to come on in boys. I'm sorry I didn't tell you when I heard your brot- _sibling_ was coming over. I assumed they had told you. I'll be sure to ask when your moter-baby comes over next time" He chuckled and went back to his book. I had forgot Fun was with me and I rubbed his shoulder.

"Thanks but no thanks Dr, I'm just waiting for Kobra to grab their stuff so I can run." I looked back to Fun. "Thanks for coming with me, It means a lot." I whispered. We both smiled. The night, or early morning, wasn't as bad as we had both anticipated.

"No problem, man. Anything for a friend. We should walk more often, I think it helps the both of us."  I like Fun a lot. I'm not sure if I love him like a partner, but I loved him like a friend. I saw Pony walk out from the bedroom with KK. I almost didn't want to talk to him, but I had to.

"Hi Pony, what'd you guys talk about?" The tenseness in the room was consuming my abilities to form complete sentences.

"Aw nothing, we were just kinda talking about life and shit." Kobra was in the kitchen doing something so I took the opportunity to get something off my chest.

"Thank you for keeping Kobra sane. I know I'm not the same as a friend and we don't talk about the same things. I don't know or care if you two were kissing or fucking or something, but if you were, just please don't hurt them." I looked into his eyes.

"I would never hurt Kobra."

"Emotionally. I don't want you to make them never want to open up or some shit. Kobra's mental health is possibly the most important thing to me." They walked out of the kitchen with a red backpack that had a crappily spray-painted cobra on it, courtesy of Fun and I. "Don't fuck up." I walked out without saying another word to Pony. "Thanks Dr." All three of us walk out of the doorway of the small house and Kobra grabs their motercycle.

"Fuck! How are we going to get home?" I spat at the sky.

"Nah it's cool dude it's fine we can take turns rolling the cycle." Fun was always on top of things.

"Okay that's cool" It was probably 6am by now.

"Before you say you're not mad or some other shit lie, I want you to tell me what you actually think. Don't fucking bottle up your emotions. That's how you get bad and I know." 

"I thought you had gone to sell your pills or take them all or something. I'm glad you were with Pony." I paused and I wasn't sure if I was about to cry. It was something stupid to cry about. "I forget that you're an adult sometimes and I can't stop you from being with your friends"

"Bro, you were just looking out for me. I took my pills with me because I thought I might've been sleeping over and I'm supposed to take them when I wake up. I get it how it looks like I was going to do something bad and fuck up. I'm sorry."

"Kobra really it's fine, we all love you, but you did offer to do laundry and I'm running low on boxers so you better fucking hurry our asses home so KK can get started" Fun was talking to both of us. He always knew how to lighten a conversation.

"Fun, you're fucking nasty!" We were all laughing.

"A deal's a deal bro, can I still call you bro?" I asked because I didn't want to insult them.

"Sure I don't really care. Terms of endearment don't count as pronouns in my book." They look up at the sky. "Just don't call me dude. It rubs me the wrong way or something" It was an easy enought request to follow. 

"You know I love you two. I love you a lot." I felt odly sentimental for it being 6am without coffee.

"Daww" They said in sync. Fun pawed at my arm while Kobra gave me a noogie.

"I love you too you booger." Kobra was casually expresssing his brotherly love.

"Yeah you're pretty chill." We laughed at Ghoul's unique indication of affection.

"Oh my gooood I need some coffee. It's too fucking early. If it was summer I would've dug a hole in the ground to sleep in by now." I always needed some sort of caffination. Ghoul laughed like a small child.

"Yeah I could go for a cup or two when we get home, after Kobra does our fucking laundry"

"I was trying to lay low so you wouldn't fucking remember, you asshole."

"A deal's a deal, I'll give you my socks and boxers first so you can get them over with!"

"You guys are gross" I forgot how much I enjoyed just hanging out the two. I could see the tiny house becoming larger.

"Yeah but you  _love_ us, especially Ghoul" Kobra liked to think that Ghoul and I were getting married.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy shit, is this becoming Frerard?


	4. Ghoul is On Top of Things

Kobra, Ghoul, and I arrived at our "tiny" abode (it was a decent size, but not for 4 roudy adults to live in) and Ghoul and I walked stepped inside while Kobra locked his bike up in the back shed. We couldn't risk someone stealing it. Jet was sleeping on a couch in the living room. I couldn't tell if he had fallen asleep doing something or if he just wanted to sleep out here. He rolled over. Jet was a suprizingly light sleeper.

"huh, you guys... are back" He mumbled. "What time izit?" He was half asleep but completely amusing.

"Shhh, go back to sleep bro, it's like 6:30am." Ghoul patted him on the shoulder and he turned back over.

"Is Kobra with you guys?" 

"Yeah he's fine." I whispered

"Okay, wake me up when you make coffe-" and Jet was asleep. I was going to make coffee right away, but I won't wake him back up until Ghoul starts cooking. He had a thing for cooking, I mean it's not like there's much he can cook in the desert, but when we find the occasional bag of flour or an egg laying chicken, he can have us eat like we were back in New Jersey.

"I'll get on coffee" I mouthed to Ghoul and pointed to the kitchen. Kobra opened the door a bit too loud. 

"shhh!" Ghoul put a finger to his mouth and widened his eyes at them for emphasis. He then pointed to Jet.

"oh shit sorry" Kobra whispered.

I was putting some grounds in the coffee machine. I filled the water up enough for 8-10 cups, because we all needed at least one or two to face the day. I was feeling nice vibes coming from the air, it was going to be a good day. I didn't really get much time to think last night, and human interaction, even with my closest and best friends, was becoming a little overwhelming. I needed to sit with some coffee and draw or write or read. I'll most likely draw some portaits of the group. I can express the most emotion through drawings of people I know. Sometimes I can capture the tiredness in someones eyes or their pain in the way they hold their head. I love shit like that, art keeps me going. Art is the real weapon against Korse and the unit. Fun and Jet play guitar to occupy time and Kobra plays bass and writes in their journal. I'm not sure what they write, but it keeps them happy so that's all I care about. We had been lucky enought to snag instruments and pencils and just random hobby-esque things before we left to California. I had found a lot of my paper in Cali so I feel a bit resourceful in that sense, although we were extremely resourceful in every sense of the word.

"Hey do we have any more sugar? That would be a treat." Kobra sits down at our makeshift metal table.

"Yeah I think so, lemme check" I open the cabinet above me to find an unopened bag left, it was a full pound of sugar! "When did we get this?" 

"On our last run, I found it in a cooler" Ghoul smiles at me.

"Wow sweet, I mean, in the literal use of the word" I smiled back. He was sweet himself. "Even though I said I would go on runs with Jet if he was down with it, you guys always bring back the best shit."

"Yeah I know right?" Kobra was cleaning of a spoon for sugar use. They had an obvious smirk on their face.

"Okay now you can start on the fucking laundry!" I gestured towards the bathroom. Ghoul was trying to contain his laughter.

"I'll get my nasty underwear ready for you." All traces of seriousness were gone and we were all silently cracking up. My ribs hurt and I couldn't bare the thought of waking Jet up for nothing, the coffee wasn't even done yet. There was still a good 5 cups left to brew. The aroma instantly woke me up from my previous haze of sleepiness. 

"I'm not even fucking kidding anymore, you're doing the laundry." Ghoul's smirk was enough to persuade my stubborn ass to do anything, there was no way Kobra was getting let off.

" _Fiiine"_ They whined. "Just let me have some coffee or eat something"

"So are we doing anything today?" I asked.

"I had nothing in mind." Kobra pitched.

"Yeah me neither, we don't desperatly need anything yet" Ghoul retrieved four cans of "canned pasta meal" from the closet. It was pretty much S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W/ spagettios. There were some venders that were always stocked about a zone away. We checked those first but only once a week, we didn't want anyone to know that we were taking all of the food. I handed him a can opener. 

"Thanks, pass me some bowls?" He asked.

"Do we really need bowls? It's in a can." I laughed.

"Just let me fucking feel homely, Poison." Ghoul really cared about comfort.

"Fine, you're doing the dishes then." I retorted. We were so fucking rude to each other, but it was okay. Rude humor was a way to get by and be happy.

"You're real quick to hand off chores, what are you doing today?" Ghoul asked.

"Yeah with me doing laundry, Ghoul doing dishes, Jet stocking the closet, what are you doing?" Kobra poked my side.

"I don't know, what needs doing?" I hadn't realized that I had literally nothing non-art related to do. "I could make you some comics or something?"

"Nah, you're going to dust." Kobra started bawling.

" _Dust?!_ How am I supposed to  _dust?_ We live in a desert. The entire house is practically composed of dust." I couldn't tell if they were kidding or not.

"What's going on?" Jet yelled from the couch. "Is the coffee ready yet?"

"Oh shit it is." I rushed to get some mugs. "There's sugar too!" I yelled back to the sleepy man.

"Oh cool" He rose and dragged himself into the kitchen and sat down at the metal table. "I heard something about Poison dusting?" Jet chuckled.

"Yeah he kept trying to get away with not doing any chores, so Poison gets to dust the house." Kobra took a sip of th still steaming, but lightly sweetened, coffee from his red mug.

"Aw have fun, see you next week when you're done." Ghoul handed Jet his blue mug full of steaming brown and a bowl of "pasta". He took a spoonful. "Thanks for breakfast. How many cans are left?"

"I think 10 or so, but we also have some fruit salad-y stuff a lot of PowerPup if we need to resort to that. I'd rather not though." Ghoul was, once again, on top of things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hahaha. Ghoul is top. I will not make this fic smut. Oh god what has this become?


	5. Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay the chapter is called Three, not chapter 3

"Hey Jet, wanna go out for a run with me the day after tomorrow?" I asked. I didn't want to, he didn't want to, nobody wanted to. Kobra and Fun went last and I already offered so I had to ask today, the day before was too soon.

"Uhhh, not really, man. But nobody ever really wants to. Yeah sure I'll go with you, Poison" He smiled even though we both kind of sank.

Runs used to be fun and exciting, not like they weren't exciting, but once we found out that dracs were poisoned killjoys, it made the deed a lot less noble and rewarding. The dracs weren't killjoys anymore and there's no way of restoring them, but I think I've knocked out a couple people who've gotten ghosted at parties that were attacked. It gives me a weird feeling, almost depressing but I still felt some anger. I don't want to have to kill old friends, well, I wouldn't be killing them. Korse killed them, we're releasing them.

"So where are you... gonna go?" Kobra asked in between bites of "pasta".

"I don't know maybe 3 if we have enough gas." I informed the group.

"That's pretty fucking ballsy. I think it might be a little too close to Battery for comfort." Ghoul looked concerned.

"I know someone with a store that wouldn't mind helping us out." I stopped. "If we could make it to them. If I could get hold of some paint, I could do custom raygun jobs and get a bit more carbons. It's not a bad idea." I looked down at my empty bowl, took a sip of coffee and looked up. The other three looked shocked. I'm not quite sure why.

"You do realize 3 is full of rats right?" Kobra didn't like talking about Battery drugs. They were stuck on them and we don't bring it up, we just make sure they take their appropriate meds and left it at that. "I mean I'm not against it if you get can some paint and shit-" 

"It's not shit, Kobra, it could be the difference between two runs a week and one. I'm not going to fuck up again. I don't even know anyone in three anymore expept Jake." Jake was the guy with a store and paint I had met and spoken to. I don't know why I got so denfensive.

"Shit sorry, I didn't mean to get weird, I'm just tense. I don't know whether or not to do this. Jet, would you be willing to come to three with me?"

"Yeah man, we just need to grab some extra batteries for the guns if we're gonna go out" He gestured at the closet. We had a ton of batteries since Kobra got hold of the Vend-a-Hack.

"Okay yeah I completely agree. This means a lot to me, I think this can really help us out." I must've really been trying to sell myself, because I realized I was talking with my hands. I was completely confident in my gun painting abilities and Kobra and Jet's ability to help me get some jobs. 

"Wait a sec, Poison. Is that why you offered to go on the run earlier?" Ghoul asked.

"Well yeah, I didn't want you and K to have to go. You don't even know where the place is." I wouldn't want them going anyways, I can barter for paint. KK and Ghoul don't know what the prices and shit should be. I don't exactly trust Jake, but he looked pretty decent, I'm just not going to take the chance that he'll play on their ignorance of something so stupid as paint prices. 

"Okay so I'll go with you because you seem pretty fucking optimistic, which never really happens. Also I'm going to miss that fruit salad if we run out, that stuff is the shit!" Jet smiled and I wanted to hug him, but I probably didn't smell too great. K had strutted back to the his room, probably to grab something or play his bass.

"Well I'll make sure to ask Jake if he knows where to get your fucking fruit salad."

"Sweet!" I was really relieved that this didn't turn into a debate.

"Well I'm going to sketch up some gun designs. Hey Kid, would you mind if I came with you tonight so I could find some jobs?" I called out to KK who was in the other room.

"Nah sounds cool!" They yelled back. 

I went into the "study". It barely qualified but it had a desk so that's all that mattered. I had made a tilted aisle to lay on the desk out of plywood when we first moved in and a small shelf to keep my paper and other supplies at arms reach to the right. I picked up a pen and sketched out a rough shape of the standard ray gun and inked it. I was warming up by redesigning my own gun. I had painted mine last year and had no desire to redo it, but I thought it would make a great warmup and way to show off my aesthetic talents to the people at Mad Gear's. I started off by drawing horizontal black stripes on the barrel and filling in the trigger and aim blue. I wanted to use all of the primary. I kept the original red stripe on top and drew the Japanese a little but closer to the front of the gun. I finished with the pill on the top left side and my initial in the bottom corner of the page. It was okay, but I didn't like the thought of replacing my own ray gun that Jet, Kid, and Fun had help me come up with. I started on some other sketches.


	6. Weird Corners and MSI

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is short. Life is catching up on me.

It had been an hour or two of sketching when Kobra came in. They were holding another mug of coffee. I assume they made more, I had forgetten about my second cup, which was now sitting on my desk, cold. I'm glad I didn't waste sugar on that cup.

"Hey I'm going to get ready to leave soon. I didn't know if you wanted to do anything to get ready but yeah. Be set soon." They nodded and walked away.

"That was very quiet of them" I thought. It was a lazy sort of day for the things that had gone on last night. I finished up my lastest sketch, an army green body with a camo barrel and black trigger. It looked intimidating, I'm sure it would sell tonight. I put my pencils and paper back on their shelf and carefully placed the drawings in a folder. I was going to write my name on it, but I'm sure people would be more likely to steal them if they knew it belonged to me.

I grabbed a t-shirt and dark blue sweatshirt from my drawer. Tonight wasn't the night for the DeadPegasus jacket. This was going to be a casual occurance. Not a badass "let's start a mosh and fuck people throught their clothes" kind of night. At least I hoped. Before I put on the shirt, I brushed some talc on my skin. It was pretty much baby powder. I used a dirty white shirt to wipe of the dust left over on my body. We had a ton of the stuff for some reason and I didn't want to be greasy right now. I guess it was for moments like these, where water was an issue but so was being clean, or at least smelled clean. I still felt grimy. I changed my jeans and slung my sweatshirt over my shoulder, grabbed the sketches and walked into the living room. Jet was playing something that sounded familiar, Ghoul was watching and tapping his foot to Jet's beat. 

"What's that again?" I asked

"Never Wanted to Dance? MSI? You should know of them." Ghoul responded. 

"oh." Was all I replied. I had liked the bass player, but I had never gotten to know her before the wars started. I wonder where the band was now. "Sounds good!" It was, in fact, very good. I remember the bass line being my favorite part of that song, but I might have just been biased to bass parts. "You should get Kid to join you later" I smiled and sat down next to Ghoul.

"Yeah, that would definitly give it some punch." Jet always sounded so passionate, even when he only spoke a few words.

Kobra came out from the bathroom, tight jeans and brushed hair. They looked badass. I needed to make sure they didn't drink much tonight, also that I didn't get wasted or high. I could already predict that I would get offers for payment in pills. Reds to pick you up, greens when you want to fuck, blues to make you sleep, and yellows with black stripes to numb everything. I shivered. 

"Ready?" Kobra asked.

"Yup. Are we going to D's after the concert?" 

"Depends on when you want to leave. You know Pony likes to stay out late." We walked outside and I tapped on the roof of the graffitied am. 

"Yeah. Pony knows where the action's at." I laughed and hopped in the car.

"Hey, you sure you'll be ok? I mean I'll make sure we don't get wasted or some shit but it's a while since you've seen Mad Gear." 

"Kobra, it's only been two weeks. I haven't pissed him off have I?" I paused, unsure of whether or not I wanted to answer that question. I had told him off for grinding on a motorbaby who obviously wasn't digging it. "Gear wouldn't hurt me in front of Missle Kid."

"Just watch yourself. Stay out of weird corners." They snickered. I used to have a tendency to fuck at raves, especially at Hyper-Thrust, but that was a Fuck You club so everyone there was into it. I'm not quite sure how over that I am. Tonight was going to be business first, then fun.

"Weird corners are my home, Kid." We both laughed as the car revved to life. Kobra pulled out and we started cruising away from the tiny building we deemed our house. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So it came to my attention that what I have been referring to as the Fab's house, is actually a diner (I just thought they stole some diner tables and shit).... Well I guess this is a Fab house au lol


	7. Cherri Digs Shimmer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> #glamlife

The AM buzzed under our seats as we drove over flat desert. It would take us about 15 minutes to get to Mad Gear's theater. It was a small run down venue with lots of little hidden rooms in the walls covered up by sheets of plywood. The closet sized rooms usually had a mattress and an ashtray, sometimes a light. They got a lot of use on nights when more than one band was playing.

 

"So, You gonna hang out with Cherri or Erotica?" Kobra spoke loudly over the sound of the car.

"Yeah, I hope they're there. I haven't seen the Kid in a while." 

"You haven't seen anyone in a while." Kobra laughed. They were right. I had only seen Pony and Dr. D in the past two or three weeks.

Erotica (full name, ErotiKid. Pronounced like "erotica" but with an "id" instead of an "a") was quite a cutie. She chose her killjoy name from living with P-Droids and her ability to supply an endless stream of inappropriate jokes.  She was quiet when alone, but could definitley open up around us and onstage. Her short hair was once teal but now faded in the front to a subtle blue. She sang in a band but never left the shows early like Missle did. I think she was only 14 or 15, but she liked to hang out with the rest of us. I think she was a couple carbons away from a drug addiction. I was often worried for her.

Agent Cherri Cola was in a band at one point, but now just liked to rave. He looked familiar when I first met him, but I could never remember where I saw him from. His hair was bright pink and he had a lanky figure. He was so fucking familiar to me, but I barely know him. 

"Very true. Hey which one do you like best?" I opened up my folder for them to see my sketched. I showed them a purple gun with black and white detailing, a brown gun with yellow and pink detailing, a dark red one with yellow, white and black detailing, and the camo gun

"I don't know man. I think the camo one will be the first to catch interest, but Kid might be into that red one." They smiled at me. "This is going to be great for you, and for all of us." 

"Thanks, I really think this will be an easy 100 carbons a week."  I paused. "Hey, Cherri is gonna dig the purple one, I practically drew it just for him. If I could get some glitter, then he'd definitely be sold." 

"Definitely." They said this monotonously and returned to focusing on the road ahead.

I could see the dot of light near the horizon approaching us. Kobra sped up.

"Hey Kobra?" I turned to face them.

"What's up?"

"Sorry if I'm boring or annoying you. I feel like I am." I bit the inside of my cheek. I felt the awkward need to say this.

"Nah, no need apologize." They laughed. "It's just not my thing, art, you know? I don't really know how to have a conversation with you about it."

I giggled at Kobra trying to hide their smile. "Fair enough. So where will you be hanging?"

"I was just thinking about that. I'll probably talk with Cherri for most of the time. We definitely have to catch up." 

"Does he ever play anywhere? I know Cherri told me likes to sing or something. You should ask for me if I don't get to him." I paused. "Actually, I'll try to find him first." 

We were nearly there. Hyper-Thrust was one of the places that you had to know people to enjoy being there. No one came to dance alone. In other words, it was fucking trashy.

"Oh shit I didn't ea- nevermind I'll find something" Kobra usually made a point of eating before they went someone, purly due to the fact that fuckheads would feed you cat food if you asked for anything. I could honestly not care less about how much I ate. When I'm depressed I usually go a few days before the three make me eat. 

We pulled up to the back of Hyper-Thrust. Kobra took the keys out of the ignition and locked the gas tank (a feature now necessary on cars fortunate enough to have fuel in them).I grabbed my drawings from the dashboard. We stepped out of the car, slammed the doors to ensure their closure, locked the doors, and walked around to the front, shittily lit with neon signs and old signs. I could feel the bass line of the song blasting inside. I opened the door for the younger killjoy.

"Hey just stay away from Angel Babies, Kid." I sounded like a concerned mother.

"Okay, mom." They read my mind sometimes. We walked inside, Kobra immediately found someone worthy of his conversation. This action took me longer than them usually. I scanned the small croud for Cherri and his white leather jacket. Some baby was DJing and Cage The Elephant was vibrating through the air. It was early and the DJ usually played alt-rock until someone stepped up to stream us with some live jams. 

I found Cherri. His hair was no longer pink, but his natural dark brown. I cut my way though the middle of the floor to reach him. 

"Hey! Cherri!" I called out. He responded by turning around and giving me a huge grin. He had stubby teeth like me. I noticed that his spikey hair were missing as well.

"Bro where's your hair?" I covered my mouth in a mock gasp.

"Pink's a hard color to come across now adays with  _Poison Red_  dominating the dye market." He patted me on the back and laughed. I hated my fame. It infuriated me, but I had to keep my red hair. I had made a name and I knew that if I changed colors, some idiot would come up with stupid theories and rumors. That made me even more livid. 

"Very true. Hey what are you up to?" I asked. I saw Erotica standing next to him, smiling. "Oh, I'm sorry. Hi Kid!" I waved. 

"Hey, Poison, haven't seen your punk ass in a while." We all laughed. Erotica mockinly posed as if she was upset.

"She speaks the truth, Poison. What have  _you_ been up to?"  

"Well, life has been catching up sort of. Been sorting some shit out with myself and the rest of the Fab." My statement was as honest as I could make it. I had just been busy.  "Oh hey I actually came here on a mission! I'm starting to paint zappers and I drew up some sketches, look at some." I handed them the folder. 

"Oh wow, okay." Cherri opened it and took out a few. Erotica took the others.

"I'm digging this purple one!" I laughed. 

"Kobra told me that would like it more if I got my hands on some glitter and sealant." His eyes lit up. Erotica was inspecting the black and white gun.

"If you can get your grubby hand on some shimmer, I'm sold. How much are you asking?" 

"A hundred carbons for now." I wondered if that was too much. 

"Oh man that's  _it?"_ Cherri was on his toes in excitement. I was feverish with eagerness, I couldn't believe I was succeeding. _  
_

"Don't advertise that price, man. Just for you two." I was going to charge more for others, since Cherri obviously didn't seem to think $100 was a lot of carbons for the job. Maybe $150 would be good.

"I'm liking this BL/ind looking one. The dark red really adds something to it." Erotic was just a kid and yet she had her own zapper. She needed one to be honest." 

"Thank you so much guys. I'm gonna go find some other people who would be into this and then I'll get back to you guys. I'll probably be good to do yours next week!" I collected the drawings and walked over to the bar where Kobra was.

"Cherri and Erotic were so into it! I can get $150 per gun, if I'm good." I yelled over the speaker just above us. 

"Make sure you don't go overboard, you don't even have paint yet." Kobra smiled and gave me a hug. I took a sip of his drink, just coffee.I hugged him back,

"Yeah I know, I'll talk to two more people and then just hang with you guys."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Idk how I feel about this. I'm bad at writing oc's so I'll probably keep that to a minimum, but writing Killjoys is so fun.


	8. Happy Patches

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kobra's chilling with some friends.

(Kobra's POV *this is new*)

Party and I walked into bar and he waved a little goodbye and nodded to me as he walked over to where I assume Cherri and Erotica were. He seemed very eager and I could tell he was very happy to be here. Poison needed this, he needed a colorful night out, he needed to hang out with friends and let loose a little. I'm not sure how much I needed this but seeing Poison happy made up for my uncomforable side-stepping to avoid dancing and standing out like a sore thumb in a sea of plastered killjoys. I forgot who I was looking for as soon as I stepped up to the bar. I wasn't going to get anything. Maybe soda water or some shitty coffee. Seeing Party with friends made me so happy, sometimes he would distance himself for too long. I should probably stop staring at them, as I would be walking over soon when he left. 

I swayed to the beat of the song currently playing. I couldn't hear the lyrics but I could hear the fast riffs and upbeat bassline travelling though the air. I made small talk with the bartender to kill time until I recognized someone I was willing to talk to. After opening up as agender, I got mixed feedback from other killjoys. Most were pretty okay and supportive of my decision, others I wouldn't be talking to anymore.

"So is anyone else playing but Mad Gear tonight?" I asked.

"I don't think so, we have a new DJ so she's just settling in this week." 

"Well she's pretty shiny so far." I noticed that Cage The Elephant was now playing.

I really liked this baby. I looked over and noticed her shoulder length, dark green hair that was being concealed with a snapback. I walked over and her headphones were huge and grey with a red logo that resembled an A and a T. I was digging it. I wanted to ask her name but made myself wait until she was done mixing. 

I saw Party walk away from Erotica and Cherri so I cut through the small crowd forming on the floor and reached them just as they noticed me.

"Hey guys! How's it going?" 

"Really good! You saw Party's zappers right? Holy shit!" Cherri was smiling.

"Yeah I know! I really think he can make something out of this."

"I think he already is." Erotica pointed to the crowd of about 4 people surrounding Party. The dark skin on her arm reflected the pink and blue lights coming from the neon sign next to us. She was always radiating. Cherri's white jacket was suprizingly white for how long he's had it.

"Oh man I hope he doesn't get in over his head. Anyways, when are Gear and Missile Kid coming out?" I looked to the stage. There was a mic and the mixing table set up. 

"I don't know, I saw The Gear walkin' around a couple minutes ago. Kid is probably back-stage with a juicebox and some cookies." Erotica smiled and looked up. 

"So Kobra, How's it going? Party said you guys are just figuring some shit out lately." She was now sitting in one of the three stools surrounding the small table. 

"Yeah um I've fucked up a little, Party's fucked up a little, Ghoul's fucked up a little. Jet is pretty much our mom now." I laughed at how honest that statement was. 

"You guys okay? I mean everyone fucks up but-" Erotica's face showed sincere concern.

"Yeah nah, just shit like me staying out too late without calling or forgetting my meds at Dr. D's." I was okay talking about things like these to Cherri and Erotica. They both respected me to the point where I told them about the times I almost overdosed.

"Oh okay. Just making sure. I've been pretty okay lately. The girls I'm with now are doing okay too. I've been keeping them off city shit." Erotica smiled. She had such a nice smile. 

Cherri and I both exchanged "good for you"'s and "that's great"'s. 

"Yeah I've been okay. My girl and I have been getting shit done. Just stuff like getting a proper bed and trading our old shit for food and a working lock. y'know." 

"Oh yeah. Party's actually going on a run into three with Jet tomorrow. We need more canned things. He's also getting some paint to do the rays with." 

"Party, into three? You sure that's a good idea?" Cherri knew just as well as I did Party's past problems. 

"Listen, He's going to be with Jet. I really trust him now too. He hasn't so much as had a drink in over a year." 

"Oh wow good for him." I could see Erotica had a question.

"Um. hmm." She paused.

"Yeah? Erotica, what's up?"

"Could you ask Party to grab me something?" 

"Well, what do you want?"

"Umm. Happy patches." Fuck. What was she doing?

"What?" Cherri and I challenged.

"Ethion needs them for a bit. She's kind of fucked right now. I know she won't make it though if I try to get her to go cold." 

"Who's Ethion?" Cherri asks.

"Ohh, is it that girl?" He was thinking. "um kinda tall, really pale. You mentioned her a couple times, I know who you're talking about."

"I think you would have to talk to Party about that-"

"Talk to me about what?" I was inturrupted by Party.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh fuck I hate "cliffhangers" but idk it's really late.


	9. The Mad Gear and Missile Kid

(Back to Party's POV)

"Talk to me about what?" I pondered. Everyone surrounding the table seemed uneasy. Kobra was looking at Erotica who was staring at the table.

"Do you remember Ethion? I think you've met her." She was extremely quiet. We were all close so we didn't have to raise our voices to be heard.

"Yeah. Um." I started to speak, taking a second to speak about the girl she was referencing. "She was a little shorter than me. Pink hair I think. She had... or has anxiety?... I think.. She mentioned at one point?" I was certain of who I was talking about. Erratic Ethion. She was a young killjoy who loved a good time and found herself in trouble. She was depressed and hated life, like many of us at one point. 

"Well um. She's not getting better. She's actually getting a lot worse."

"Oh. And I'm sure you're doing the best you can to help." I was sincere with this comment.

"The thing is, she's not going to make it cold turkey. She's going to kill herself, Poison." Erotica started to hiccup. I embraced her and rubbed her back. Cherri gave her a nod and a pat on the shoulder.

"What was she using? Angel dust?" I asked.

"Nah, the kid was on happy patches and-" Cherri started but Erotic interrupted.

"I can finish." She wiped her face and ended the hug. "I wanted to know, since you were going into three, if you could get me a week of patches. At most." She was serious and I didn't know how to respond. I really wanted to help her out, because I had been in that exact situation before, but I didn't want to get myself or Jet killed trying to get drugs. I had no clue who to go to since I cut all my dust angel friends out of my life. Jet would probably be very hesitant about helping a girl get patches as well. I would talk it over with the others when I got home that night. 

"I'll talk it over with Jet and the others. I want to help you out, I just need some help. I'll give you a ring tonight about it. I'm willing to help you and Ethion in any way necessary if you need it." I paused, looked up, and smiled. "I understand how important this is. I'll try my best kid." and gave her a rub on the head, her dirty goggles falling over her flushed face. 

"Ugh." She laughed through the annoyance of her messed up hair. "Thank you sososo much. I don't know how to make this up to you." 

"You're such a good soul, P." Cherri was smiling. I looked over to the stage and saw Missile Kid walking her little self up to the piano with a yellow tambourine.

"Hey guys! Missile Baby's up!" I heard cheers from throughout the venue. Gear followed in his brown combat boots, leather pants, and camo jacket. His stubble was starting to grow in on his tan face and the dirt circles surrounding his eyes were darker than usual. Gear's worn camo jacket was starting to fray at the elbows and there were blood stains to accompany the dust and rough edges. Gear was a badass with a good soul, but his soul was sometimes forced to succumb to violence due to his heavy alcohol intake and the occasional line of cocaine. 

Missle Kid looked just as cute as always with her tiny fighter cap and multicolor leather jacket. Missile Kid was the embodiment of what it meant to be a motorbaby, badass and colorful and nice and  _fast._ Not speed fast, but a quick and fun-loving soul.  _  
_

She set up her turntable and assumed her spot sitting on top of the piano. Mad Gear would sing and play guitar while Missile Kid mixed and kept a beat. They opened up with a slower song as people began to gather near the stage. I swayed to the riffs and nodded my head to the downbeats. I wouldn't dance. Concerts were always the best experience for me. Getting lost in the mix of waves and warm floodlights covering the stage. I had no reason to be on stage anymore, I had no one to play with.

* * *

As they wrapped up, I bid farewell to Erotica and Cherri. I made sure to get Erotica's number so I could call later when I found out what was going on. I found Kobra and we slipped outside and into the Trans AM. I sighed and giggled a bit. 

"That was fun."

"Yeah it was. I'm tired." Kobra yawned. It was probably close to 12am.

"We're getting old kid! It's not even that late." 

"Chill out, we're in out thirties. It's been a while since we've been out too. We gotta get back into the lifestyle, yaknow?"

"Yeah. Human interation exhausts me." and with that, KK pulled out and we began our ride home. 


	10. Nostalgic Noises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something new happens in the zones, and in the Fab's house.

(Party's POV)

"Yeah. Human interaction exhausts me too." I slurred. I hadn't had anything to drink, but I was now adjusting to the ringing of my ears due to the sudden lack of noise. The AM pulled out as Kid drove us home. I realize that we could've taken the bike and saved gas, but assume that Kobra wanted to take the car, or they would've said otherwise. I felt weak. Exposed. Even with just Kobra seeing me. What if people found out that the badass killjoy front man felt high after parties even with no drugs in his system, that Party Poison couldn't party hard every night or he become anxious, that BL/ind's most wanted 'criminal' was an introvert.

I didn't think it hindered my abilities to lead a rebellion and kick ass but it revealed a major portion of my life that was kept under the lock and key of promises to each of the Fabulous Four as well as Pony and Dr. Death Defying. They were the only other joys who knew how quite I tended to be without an initiative to cause me to riot.  

"Whacha thinkin' 'bout P?" Kobra looked over. 

"I feel exposed." 

"Oh." There was a pause.  "You wanna talk? I mean I won't do anything to expose you, yaknow." They spoke softly.

"I know, Kid. I'm just thinking about anxious I get. I get that feeling you know, like right now, when I step outside and I feel numb and my head is still spinning from the noise." I kept my eyes straight ahead. "I.." Another pause.

"Just thinking." I broke the silence again.

"No yeah I understand. It's funny, the four toughest killjoy leaders are huge loners. But we're loners together so it's cool." 

"Yeah." I looked over and Kobra was sporting a crooked grin for a fraction of a second before they returned their eyes to the road.>

"Can you turn on D? He plays nice vibes at night." I asked.

"Sure thing." Kobra turned a couple dials until the soft hum of Two Door Cinema Club filled the car.

"Hmm" I relaxed back into my seat. I didn't realize how tense I was.

"Nice vibes?" Kobra giggled.

"Definitely." We rode thought the song silently until right after the song, something new happened. A young voice came throught the speakers.

"Hey joys. Hope you're enjoying your night. I'm gonna end of tonight with some Fall Out Boy, Florence and the Machine, and Foster the People, puttin' some nostalgic noises in your brains. This is Ethion, signing off." And with that, Sugar We're Going Down begins.

"What the fuck?" I stared at the radio.

"We were just talking about Ethion. Why is she on D's channel?"

"You know just as well as me. Huh. I'll stop by in the morning."

"Okay you do that. Oh wait, I bet she's staying with D and Pony for some help, but why the fuck is she on the radio?"

"I don't know, bro. I'll stop by in the morning." We were almost home. I could see the dot of a light shining out the window. We let Fall Out Boy fill the car for the remaining 2 minutes and pulled up to the abode. Kobra turned the car off and we stepped out and walked inside.

Jet wasn't in the living room, he was probably sleeping. He was the only one with normal sleeping patterns. Ghoul was sitting in the kitchen drinking black coffee and tapping out a melody on the metal table. He was listening to some cd. I wasn't playing enough attention to figure out what it was. He looked really beautiful when he was wrapped into something he was passionate about, which was usually tapping out rhyhms and strumming riffs. 

"G'night y'all." Kobra said ironically, and with that, they floated over to their room and shut the door.

"How was is?" Ghoul paused the player and stood up. 

"Went well. Some people were sold on the idea of custom blasters."

"Good for you. Hey, c'mere."

"Yeah?" I walked over to the kitchen and stood in front of the smaller man. He stuck out his tattooed arms and I accepted his embrace.

"Oh." I said and hugged Ghoul back. He rubbed my back, it felt really nice. 

"Party?"

"Yeah?"

"You're really nice you know." We giggled a bit. 

"You're really nice too, yaknow." Our giggling escalated slightly.

"Hey Ghoul?" 

"Yeah"

"You're beautiful" I'm not sure what I said the moment I said it. It took me a couple seconds to realize that I had pretty much just admitted my love to him.

"You're not quite bad yourself." Ghoul said and stepped back. We looked into each others eyes for a couple seconds and then he gestured towards the living room. What was going on? I'm not sure where this was going but I'm not sure I would dislike any path the night did take.

 


	11. Great Question

 

(Party's POV once again)

"Ghoul? What's this about?" I followed his gesture and sat down on the low set couch.

"I dunno, Party." He plopped down. "Can I come with you next time?" 

"Come with me wh- oh." I smiled. "Yeah, it'd be fun." We were sitting on the couch together, avoiding any awkward contact. I slid over so our thighs met.

"What were you and Jet doing while we were gone?" 

"Jet was listening to music, what did you expect? Actually, I think he rearranged some things in the closet. I was writing some things."

"If you're willing to share later, I'm very willing to listen." I decided to take a change and I leaned into Ghoul's shoulder. He was startled and retracted for a fraction of a second.

"Oh." He sighed and I giggled.

"Party what  _are_  we doing?" He whispered.

"I dunno, Ghoul." I was tired and worn out but I was so happy right then. I could sit and talk and giggle with Ghoul for the rest of eternity.

"Can I ask you something?" Ghoul turned his head and I looked up to meet his eyes.

"Fire away."

With that, he leaned down and met my lips. I was confused, but kissed back. It was short and sweet.

"Great question." I giggled.

"So that's a yes?" Ghoul had the biggest grin I think I've ever seen adorned on his face.

"To what?" 

"Do you love me?"

"Mhmm." I kissed him back, a bit longer this time. My hands had found their way around his neck and we were almost sitting up.

"Yeah, um, I love you too." The light in his eyes was beautiful. Ghoul had washed his face very recently, as the sand dust which usually ringed his eyes was missing. 

"shit."

"What?" Ghoul sounded hurt.

"Sorry, not you, I have to prep for the run tomorrow." 

"Oh fuck, yeah. You should probably get some sleep"

"Ugh." I groaned and pulled Ghoul closer. "Only if you sleep with me."

"Fine." He pushed me off of him and stood up. 

"Bitch."

"C'mon, time for bed." And we went into Ghoul's room, as he had a bigger bed. We layed down under a thin blanket, I was in his arms.

"Hm" I hummed and slid closer to him and put my head under his chin.

"G'night, Ghoul."

"G'night, P" and we slept.


	12. Peaches and Dream

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> /*trigger warning suicide*/  
> Yes the title is a fucking pun. I've been busy as heck with theatre and school so I won't be updating as much.

(Ghoul's POV woop woop)

_**I woke up in the middle of the night to take a piss to find that Party was no longer next to me. I wandered out of my room and into his. Not there. I went into the kitchen and throught the window I saw a figure shifting from leg to leg anxiously. It was Party, standing in front of the trans-am, holding a blaster under his chin. He was going to do it, Party was going to kill himself. Before I could tell my mouth to call out, he pulled the trigger. A ray of light shot out of the gun and into the skull of the red-haired killjoy. Party fell to the ground before I made it out the door.** _

I awoke with a strong jolt to find P in my bed next to me, then memories of last night flooded back to me. For what I could tell, he was sleeping. I found it very funny that Poison was in my arms, since I was obviously the smaller of us, but he seemed to be enjoying it so I didn't want to move or wake him. The sun was starting so come though the dark blanket I used as a curtain, probably around 9am, judging how the light was beaming directly into my eye. Party stirred and his hand found mine, _god this was so domestic._

"Good morning." I was a little shaky, but it could easily be passed off as sleepiness.

"Yeah, g'mornin" Party was awake. "So." He sounded very confused. I'm sure he was going to ask if I had a bad dream, but then I remembered, I don't move or talk in my sleep. The Fab had always told me that I was stiff as a log.

"Are we a thing?" He paused and sighed. "-or was this a one time thing?" He didn't ask about the dream. I definitely wasn't going to bring this up.

"I don't want this to be a one time thing. You're pretty when you sleep." What was I saying? I had never really felt this way about Party, this was a completely new feeling. "I would be a thing with you- or I would be in a thing with you." He rubbed my tattooed knuckles. "If that's okay with you, of course." I had to be polite.

"Sounds pretty solid to me. I mean how else were we supposed to explain this to Kobra and Jet?" I laughed at his bluntness. 

"Okay. Solid."

* * *

 

After a couple of kisses and talking about how much P  _really_ didn't want to prep for the run, the smell of brewing coffee lured us out of bed and into the kitchen. Jet was standing in front of the coffee maker in too-small sweatpants and a mane of unruly hair. 

"G'mornin" He called.

"Morning" P and I said in unison.

"So." Jet laughed. "How was last night? You two seemed pretty comfy earlier." I blushed. 

"Last night was  _amazing."_ P practically moaned, and I was left with seemingly no idea oh how to respond.

"Definitly, I didn't know P was so athletic." Party started laughing, and Jet turned around.

"Nah nah, I know you guys didn't fuck. I would've heard one of you." We were all laughing when Kobra walked in.

"Oh hey, homos." Our laughing turned into loud cackling as Kobra smirked. 

"You're one to talk, Kid." I managed to stop laughing long enough to say. 

"I'm no homo. See I may be queer, but I'm no homo." This conversation was going to shit, I didn't know how to say that Party Poison was now my date.

"Hey, is coffee ready?" Kobra asked.

"Oh shit yeah." Jet said as he reached for 4 mugs, grabbing two at a time by the handle, he placed them on the counter and filled one.

"Thanks bro." I filled a mug for myself.  "Wait, we have sugar!" I said as I rushed to set down my mug and reach for the shelf that was just out of my reach. I jumped just a little to try and aquire the two pound bag but Jet came behind me.

"Two feet on the ground at all time!" Jet laughed and stole the sugar.

"These two feet are going up your ass. Here." I scratched my eyes that still had sleep stuck around the edges and handed him a spoon. He dumped two spoonfuls into his mug and swirled it around. Jet handed me the bag and spoon and I only put in one spoonful, I didn't like overly sweet coffee. I handed the bag to Party who was sitting at the metal table. 

"Thanks, sugar." and then the motherfucker winked at me.

I sat down next to him, across from Kobra. "So, Kobra, you going anywhere today?" I asked, sometimes they didn't mention having plans until the last minute. That kind of pissed me off sometimes.

"Um, I don't think so, I mean I might go over to see Dr. D and Pony and that Ethion kid, but other than that, nothin'."

"Yeah, I want to come with you when you go to D's if you don't mind."

I heard Jet opening a can.

"Whatcha got Jet?" I looked over to see a spoon being dug into the can and out came....

A PEELED PEACH.

"JET ARE YOU TAKING THE LAST CAN OF FRUIT?" 

"Maybe." He took a swig from the can.

"I hope you plan on sharing." We were all staring with angry jealousy in our eyes. Jet started to laugh and shoved a syrupy orange slice into his mouth.

"Nah, there's 5 more cans left. I gotcha good!" All three of us simultaneously flipped him off.

"Sure, but we need to start saving our shit. If this run goes bad, we're fucked." Poison looked concerned. "I really don't want to have to resort to other means of getting carbons so this run's gotta be stellar, Jet where do you wanna go first?" 

"We should go the dude, what was his name? Anyway, the paint guy can wait until after the run, so if something happens, maybe he can help us out."

"Not a bad idea. The guy seemed really chill about this whole thing, he even gave me a can of veggie chili when I first met him." Party laughed.

"Lucky, I wish I had some cool art friends." Kobra whined.

"Hey, I'm pretty artsy if I do say so myself." Party put his hand on his hip.

"But you're my brother, you have to give me food." Kobra smiled and sipped his coffee, still steaming.

"I mean I _could_ let you starve but you know, that's not very nice." Party was still standing with his hip popped, gesturing into the air with the hand not on his hip. He could be very sassy.

"Speaking of that, Jet, exactly how much food do we have left?" Party turned around to face the afroed man holding an old magazine.

"Um 10 cans of pasta-y stuff, 5 fruit, 4 tuna, um," He paused and looked up. "Lemme check." He speeded over to the closet. "2 boxes of dry pasta. oh, one can of sauce. and then a bunch um." He counted to himself. "7 powerpup, which I hope we can save for some of the strays i've seen."

"So like 3 maybe 4 days. 5 if we're really careful. I agree with the power pup, some of those dogs are looking pretty thin." Party responded.

"So are we." Kobra piped in quietly.

"Yeah." 

We haven't been full since the night before the first bombs fell. Hunger was always lingering, even on the days we were blessed enough by the Pheonix Witch to have 3 meals in a day. 

* * *

The rest of the day was spent talking about strategies to go about Zone 3 and places they knew probably had some old warehouses. I didn't end up going with Kobra to see Dr. D. I wanted to stay with Poison. It turns out Ethion was in fact staying with them and one of her dreams was to be a killjoy radio host. She was calm and collected and knew how to grab attention so Dr. Death let her have a shot, and Kobra said that she seems very happy where she is. 

It was just now getting dark out, Jet and Kobra had retreated to their rooms and Poison and I were sitting on the couch, alone. I don't know if this was intentional on the other two's part but I was definitely digging it. I moved my hand and put it together with Party's. He rubbed my knuckes, and oh, I loved it when he did that. He leaned into my arm and put down his old Kerrang! magazine with Nirvana on the cover. 

"Hey the sky looks nice. Wanna go outside?" I asked.

"I have a better idea." and he stood up, lead me out the door and told me to close the door. I did this as he grabbed the old ladder and stood it up against the flat hideout. Party gesturede up the ladder. "Wanna?"

"Yes." I climbed up the ladder and sat down against the now-obsolete electric air vent and waited until Party sat next to me. We were facing the setting sun, with a universe of dark sky and stars behind us. Once again, Party rubbed my knuckles. This time, I leaned onto his shoulder and he planted a kiss on forehead, letting it linger for a little while before removing his lips. 

 

"Please don't be stupid tomorrow. I would miss you too much." I referenced the inevitable truth of us all. I almost offered to go with him, but then we would all die.

 


	13. Pills

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Party's POV

I woke up early on the day of our first supply run in a month. Ghoul was laying in bed next to me, we had whispered sweet nothings to each other before sleeping so my hair smelled like him, I liked it. Why weren't runs enjoyable anymore? Maybe because I had a reason not be risking my life every other day. I shuffled out of bed, careful not to wake him, and walked into the living room where Jet was already awake and had made coffee. We had to leave early and get to and from three before the Dracs went on their afternoon shift. The morning shift was small and rarely that attentive, the later was another story that I didn't want to encounter.

"Hey Jet, can you pour me a mug? I'm gonna grab some stuff."

"Sure thing, make sure you grab the drawings and maybe some things to trade if we have to?"

"Yeah! I wanted to use some of my drawings from the city, I think he might buy it. I don't know, art's kind of a weird thing right now." I paused. I didn't really sell my art anymore, but I liked to make zines for motorbabies who didn't have any other color in their life but brown, seeing the looks on their faces when I handed them a booklet of color was always an experience I valued. Finally I said "I'll go get my stuff." I loved trading art! I just liked getting old drawings that I no longer wanted off of my hands in return for markers or a canvas. It's harder now to barter though,with killjoys running out of supplies left and right, having nice pictures on the wall of a house you couldn't afford was plain stupid. 

Once in my room I began to get dressed, not really minding that Fun was still in my bed fast asleep. I put on a pair of tighter blue jeans that were cut on the bottom and rolled them up to my calfs. I searched for a shirt and settled on a gray tee that had a logo on it, now faded. 

I grabbed my folder with the sketches and extra paper tucked inside, some zines I had made over the past couple weeks (they would be for kids), a couple of batteries that I forgot I had, my bandana, fingerless leather gloves, and made a small pile of these things on my desk. Finding a bag to put them in, in the closet, I arranged the items so they would endure the least amount of damage, putting the gloves on and the bandana in my back pocket. I flung the bookbag over my shoulder and began towards the door. _We're going to three._ I thought to myself.  _Drug territory, right?_ _Jet told me to bring things to trade._ I walked to my desk, sat down, and pulled out an shoe box from under it, it had been undisturbed for over a year telling by the even layer of dusk covering it's lid. I opened the box and rummaged around a bit, finding my old prescription bottle. I shook the bottle lightly, listening to the contents. It still contained 10 or 15 pills.  _Kobra is going to kill me._

"Party?" I heard a voice croak from my bed. _fuck._ "Party what are you doing?" Ghoul kicked the blanket off and sat at the edge of the bed, facing my back. " **Party!** " "Yeah?" I answered sheepishly turning around to look at him. "I'm- no- I was- Jet told me to bring things to trade... and we're going to three- I don't need these so I figured-" "Don't let Kobra find out you kept those." "Thank you, Ghoul." "No really, fucking put some gauze in there or something because you know they're going to hear them. How much are you going to sell those for?" "I don't know, a can of food or two each. Maybe 20 carbons for 4, that's how much they were last time I went." "Sounds good." I sat next to him, rubbing his back, holding the pills in my left hand. "I really hope I can get those cans of paint." I sighed. What if I _couldn't?_ I wouldn't be completely fucked, but I definitly wouldn't be in a good position. "You will, it's going to be fine."

"Yo, Poison, coffee's getting cold!" Oh crap yeah, coffee. "Want some?" I looked at Ghoul, sure of his answer. "Hell yeah." I quickly put a piece of cloth, discarded on my desk, in the pill bottle to mute it's existance and threw it into the bottom of the bag.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is super short, I've just been really busy and ugh I'm not in the mood to write much anymore. I think updated will be a bit slow in the coming months.


End file.
